This Alzheimer's Disease Research Center is a consortium of the University of California San Diego, and the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation. The Center will provide rsources to strengthen ongoing research projects on Alzheimer's disease, to develop and support new research initiatives, and to integrate and coordinate these activities. The thrust of our ongoing research is the chemical-pathological-biochemical studies; specifically, we are concerned with quantitative measures of nerve cell loss, identification of specific neurotransmitter changes, characterization of abnormal fibrous proteins, and correlation with mental status and specific cognitive measures during life. New research projects will include studies of chronobiological changes in the Alzheimer patient, studies of changes in cerebral cortex organization in the Alzheimer brain, and studies of persistent virus infections and presence of viral determinants cross-reacting with Alzheimer brain components. In addition, pilot projects will include a search for genetic markers, studies of alpha adrenergic receptors in Alzheimer brain, studies of specific memory dysfunction and changes in lexical structure. Patient volunteers and normal controls participating in our protocols will be comprehensively screened and followed by the Clinical Core, providing essential longitudinal data on clinical course and cognitive changes, as well as eventual clinical-pathological-biochemical correlation. The Neuropathology Core will provide not only neuropathological diagnosis but also detailed morphometric and biochemical analyses of the brains. In addition, we will develop research training opportunities both at the graduate and postgraduate levels. Our information transfer component will provide physicians and other health professionals with a supervised, direct experience working with the Alzheimer patient.